Sunday, Lavender, now a senior at the University of West Virginia, received a phone call from her boyfriend telling her that the president was going to make an unusual speech that night. The journalism major immediately went to Twitter, where unconfirmed reports of Osama bin Laden's death were clotting the feed. When Obama formally announced the world's most wanted terrorist's death at 11:35 p.m., Lavender said she got chills.
Students immediately headed to the campus rock to spray-paint their reactions to the news.
Several small groups of students painted the rock while others repeatedly chanted, "USA!"
For many of the current students at UT, the United States military has been fighting overseas in search of Osama Bin Laden since they were in elementary school.
The celebration began in Greekland, concentrated in front of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house. It migrated toward Central Campus, settling at the steps of Curtiss Hall. Cries of, "We want Geoffroy!" and "To the Knoll!" led the crowd to the president's residence. From there, the celebration traveled down Lincoln Way — flags waving, fireworks exploding and truck engines roaring — to Campustown, where some crowd members climbed the Campustown Campanile. The night ended with a trek to Jack Trice Stadium. Crowds were
The announcement was particularly poignant for Weinberg sophomore Eric Stefenson, who lost a close family friend and nearly lost his father to the 9/11 attacks.
Matthew Segal, the 25-year-old president of Our Time, a national membership organization for Americans under 30, and resident of Washington, D.C., woke up at 4 a.m. to catch an early train to New York City. Instantly, he knew something was up when his BlackBerry became overrun with hundreds of email and text messages.
Segal was shocked by the news. He almost couldn't believe it.
Sunday night, Stefenson said he teared up as the President described the 9/11 events. Stefenson and several fraternity members were some of the first people to gather at the rock, and they sprinted down Sheridan Road carrying an American flag.
"I was tearing up when he (Obama) was talking about the 9/11 attacks, I remember it very vividly," Stefenson said. "Not being sure if my dad was still alive, there was a lot of uncertainty and I was crying at the time in fifth grade. That all came rushing back. The whole night was super emotional.
As soon as Obama gave his speech — I'm in a fraternity — and everyone in Greekland poured out into the streets to sing and rally, and as a group we all assembled," said Colin Hueser, sophomore in biochemistry. "We were here, we ended up at Welch, and we all just ended up here to celebrate. It's something that, when I'm 80, I'll remember this for the rest of my life."
Hueser said he had a final exam at 7:30 a.m. the following morning, but to not be out celebrating would be "ludicrous.
Of course I understand the impulse to celebrate, and it's something I'm certainly not immune to," Burgart said. "But it came on the shoulder of a lot of different people and a lot of sacrifices. You have to remember that."
Burgart added that he was too "cued up" to get much sleep.
"People are going to celebrate the way they are going to celebrate," Burgart said. "Personally I look at all this as a general catharsis.
I guess I'm interested to see the moment and see how people react," said Ian Ringgenberg, graduate student in interdisciplinary graduate studies. "I guess I'm not personally celebrating killing one guy after 10 years of loss of life and invading two countries, but I guess 10 years from now I think I'll have wanted to have witnessed it.
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